Review of online conference, Wednesday 15-16 December 2021
The ALT Winter conference was online for the seventh year in a row and was two full days of presentations, discussions, awards and general merriment. ALT’s Chief Executive, Maren Deepwell, opened the conference and the next day it closed with the Learning Technologist of the Year awards.
Many of the presentations this year focused on how institutions and individuals had coped so far with the ongoing pandemic. There was a general feeling of déjà vu and uncertainty about where we all go from here as no one expected the pandemic to last so long. Where many institutions had pivoted to online in March 2020, there had been a drift back to face-to-face teaching that again was now in jeopardy.
Wellbeing was one theme that was discussed in the conference and many acknowledged the difficulties that staff and students had faced over the past couple of years. Exhaustion and burn-out are recognisable in many of our colleagues and so people are turning to digital wellbeing for support. Another theme that came out of the conference was the need to embrace flexibility, whether that is with assessments, technology or pedagogical approaches to teaching. Inclusion and accessibility were also important topics that ran through many of the discussions.
What I took away from the conference was the understanding that while we are still in uncertain times, I am part of a community that has responded well and is still responding to the situation. It had stepped up in a time of need and I am proud to have done my bit.
